


Effort

by HiddenViolet



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Coffee, Established Relationship, M/M, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 15:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20909579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenViolet/pseuds/HiddenViolet
Summary: A discussion about a new coffee shop brings an issue to light.





	Effort

**Author's Note:**

> This is my story for the Sentinel Saturday Concrit.

“Hey, we should try that coffee shop over there.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? Why not? Have you heard anything about it? Does it make your senses go haywire?” Jim shot him an exasperated look.

“No, it is neither of those things. I don’t want to try it because if we do then we have to tell Simon and Simon will demand to know why he wasn’t invited. He will say that he loves coffee and he likes to spend time with us and that we should have invited him.”

“I think this might be a really obvious answer but why don’t we just invite him? He likes coffee, we are going to a coffee shop. It’s a natural fit.” Jim shook his head.

“If we invite him then we have to invite Megan because then it is a Jim, Blair, and others outing rather than a Jim and Blair outing. She always wants to be invited. Then Joel will want to come because he doesn’t want to be left out. Then H and Rafé will also come because if everyone else is going, so should they.”

“And what exactly is the problem if the whole precinct comes with us to coffee. They are our friends. We spend time with them all the time.”

“Because then something that should have been and ‘you and I’ thing has become a group thing. Then it will never be for just us.”

“Jim, is there something that you want to tell me?” Jim sighed unhappily.

“It just seems like I see you less now than when you had two jobs and were still working for the university. It used to always feel like you carved out time for me specifically, even if you were busy. And that the things that we did together were things that were just for us.” Blair smiled lightly at him.

“You are jealous of _your_ friends is what you are saying.”

“That’s not what I am saying at all. All I am saying is that I seem to see you less.” Blair shook his head pulling back a smile. He had a feeling that he hadn’t done it too well though.

“No, you didn’t like doing the things my old friends liked. You never came and then _we_ would go and do things that we enjoyed. Now you do like the things that my friends like because they are also your friends. They were your friends originally. You’re just annoyed that because I started working for the police you can’t keep me to yourself. You don’t get to be the only cop that’s my friend.” Jim raised an eyebrow at him while thinking about it.

“No, I don’t think that’s it. I’ve shared you with Simon forever. He’s one of your friends, possibly even before he and I were really friends. I feel like the quality of our time has given way to quantity. We spent a lot of time together before because we lived together, and we had the same hobbies. We didn’t work together so we didn’t see each other all the time. Now it feels like we have quit putting in the effort because we see each other constantly.”

Blair looked at him with his head tilted to the side. Could that be it? He had recently felt something similar. It was as if the two of them had lost that part of their relationship. When was the last time they went on a date? Hell, when was the last time they had even had date night? Just eaten some take out and watched the game? A while apparently.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe we have stopped putting in the effort. So, we start trying again. We can start by going to that coffee shop. Just us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comment or Kudos if you liked it.


End file.
